Yves Missi 2024 NBA Draft Profile
We are continuing our 2024 NBA Draft profile series, and today we will be doing Baylor center Yves Missi, one of the best centers in the 2024 class. Let’s hop into it!
Height: 6’10.75″ (7’2 wingspan, 9’1.50″ standing reach)
Weight: 229
Age: 20.1
Position: Center
Missi, who emigrated to the United States in 2021 after growing up in Cameroon, was a four-star prospect out of Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., according to 247 Sports. He was a top-50 player in the country and a top-10 player in the state
He’s a physically gifted 6-foot-11 big with a raw skillset. He played only one season at Baylor, averaging 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds on 61.4 percent shooting and 62.2 percent true shooting. But from a developmental perspective, head coach Scott Drew did as good of a job as you could ask for with a player whose basketball background is quite young.
Let’s dive into his draft profile!
Strengths:
The pair of traits that immediately pops with Missi tape–regardless if it’s at the beginning or end of the season–is his motor and athleticism.
At the combine, he sported a 31.0-inch standing vertical and a 38.5 max vertical, two above-average marks for a near-7-footer. He utilized his vertical juice by being Baylor’s primary above-the-rim threat who Rayj Dennis and Jayden Nunn could look to as an outlet.
Spacing isn’t only created by stretching the floor–vertical spacing is crucial, you just need the playmakers to help set them up. Baylor had that. Missi had good hands when he skied for lobs and corralled rebounds.
But where he really popped for me was on the defensive end.
He may be 6-foot-11, but he showed, as the season went along, his potential defensively. Missi was an awesome weakside rim protector, averaging 2.0 blocks per 30 minutes. Though what intrigued me the most was his coverage versatility, specifically in space, when he was shown capabilities of defending smaller, quicker guards in space on an island. Missi could flip his hips well and had adequate foot speed.
Showing that schematic versatility is crucial. He may not be relied upon to defend on an island a lot at the NBA level outside of occasionally peel-switching late in the shot clock. But it could be easier to carve out a role in a tougher situation if he shows he can defend at least 3-4 positions consistently. At worst, I think he could be a big that can play deep-, mid and high-drop who could blitz and be a scheme versatile big depending on the situation.
His rebounding numbers may not pop, but his motor on the glass to keep possessions alive and create second-chance opportunities was never a question. He had great double-jump ability and always appeared locked in, even if he wasn’t always in the right position. I love his mobility at his size and if you pair that with a good motor, you could have your hands on a very solid player.
Weaknesses:
Missi is a raw prospect, so almost every skill that he has in his toolbag could use some polishing. That includes his handle, on-and off-ball defense, shooting, positioning–all of it.
That’s not a bad thing. It’s not a knock. His handle improved tremendously throughout the year–enough to where he was occasionally isolating one-on-one inside 15 feet against other bigs; His ability to defend on the perimeter improved as well as his positioning in drop.
But they all need to improve.
Missi shot 61.6 percent from the free-throw line and over 80 percent of his attempts came at the rim, albeit shooting 75.4 percent on such shots. He’s a phenomenal vertical threat with great hands. But unless he develops into a valuable defensive anchor–which he can with the right coaching–he may need to continue to work on his shooting range if he wants an expanded NBA role.
All things considered, his shooting form’s not terrible, but it’s also far from perfect. As a rolling big man, I would like to see more clean short roll decision-making, which I think can come with time in the right system.
Projection: Mid to late first round
It’s difficult to talk yourself into a potential backup center who’s raw in the first round. But Missi would be a good flyer. He just needs to find the right organization that can develop his skillset. It’s somewhat limited, but boy does he have plenty of potential in my eyes.
The motor and effort were never questions for me–he’ll be ready to work from what I’ve seen. It’s just a matter of whether he can continue putting the puzzle pieces together. If I were to blindly pinpoint teams to keep an eye on, I’d say New Orleans, Toronto, Washington and Denver.
I’m a fan of Yves Missi, even if it may take time to put it all together.
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